There are many chains in the UK, but this is our favorite - Waitrose. Its a pleasure to shop in. This is a shot of the Waitrose branch in Cowbridge where I often stop at on the way home from work.
Over the last couple days we have had some stormed with some amazing clouds before and after. Here is a shot yesterday afternoon from our patio.
The storm passed through overnight with some heavy rain and thunder but was gone by the morning. Today swim classes started back up again for the kids so we were down at Atlantic College and got some nice shots by the castle and water.
With good weather this weekend, I thought it might be good to let Hunter and Noah attempt their first real mountain summit. Noah came down with a sore throat and flu symptoms during the night Saturday, so it was just Hunter and me. My target peak was Pen-y-fan in the Brecon Beacon area of South Wales. At 2907 ft it is the highest peak in south wales and the highest in southern Britain south of Snowdonia. Of course we were up Snowdonia in North Wales last summer, but as we gained the summit by train except for the last 100 ft, it doesn't really count:).
Hiking was great. Sunny, breezy, turning quite gusty at the summit. Hunters first mountain summit! Note the sheep in the pictures beside Hunter. This was an uber friendly .... and smart sheep that has figured out that people will feed it on the summit of Pen-Y-Fan. If you made eye contact with this friendly creature it would head your way.
Our last day in Ireland. Today our plan was to drive from the south coast up to Cork, visit Blarney castle, explore Cork city a little and then make our way back to Rosslare for the night to catch our 8:45 ferry in the morning!
Blarney Castle is one of the things you have to do if you are anywhere near cork, and if you go to Blarney Castle you of course want to kiss the legendary Blarney Stone which according to legend will endow the kisser with gift of eloquence. Yes its touristy, yes there is a line to wait in, but still a good experience. All of us of legal height kissed the stone - Kevin, Kelly, Hunter and Noah, although I am not sure the eloquence has kicked in yet...
After Blarney Castle, we decided to stop in for a short walk around downtown Cork. Here are a few nice shots but in general Kelly and I were pretty underwhelmed with Cork city. Funny enough in Cork we ran across the 'Idaho Cafe'.
After a scenic but somewhat long drive back early evening to Rosslare, we enjoyed our last dinner together on the emerald isle with the sun setting....
Today, with some sadness we left Killarney, and headed to the south coast of Ireland to the Kinsale area. I actually booked us in at a B&B hotel called the Blue Horizon near a small village called Garrettstown right on the coast. The weather continued to treat us well as the day was sunny giving us an opportunity for another beach day at the beautiful beach at Garrettstown just down the hill from where we were staying.
That evening we headed into the colorful town of Kinsale for a stroll and dinner. This is a great town just to wander around and explore the streets and shops. Although much easier to do without kids we still made our somewhat regular search for the local ice cream shop!
The Blue Horizon B&B was our stay for the night. It has spectacular views, great hosts, a bar - everything you would want. Check out the views from our room! Check out one of our favorite pics from the trip - the attempted family shot with Kelly casually holding Preston's shirt as he tries to escape.
Our day started early with a 9 am pre-booked Jarvey Ride in Killarney Park to Ross Castle with Killarney Jaunting Cars.
The Jarvey ride took us to Ross Castle on the edge of the lake inside the park.
After our jarvey ride we went and picked up some food for a picnic and headed south into the park in search of a good picnic spot. We first drove down to a place called 'Lady's view' which of course had a nice view but little picnic spots. We then drove back north and stopped at Muckross House and Gardens again still inside the park. Muckross house is a manor house on the lake that is now a public garden. We picked a nice spot on the lawn between the house and the lake.
After lunch we headed back to our hotel for Preston's afternoon nap. After waking we drop up to a high point near Aghadoe church ruins and gives great views of the lake and park:
This evening was our second date night of the trip. I had pre-booked a babysitter and the plan was to do dinner and go to a show called Celtic steps. We had a nice dinner at a restaurant called the Smoke House. From there we proceeded to the Celtic Steps show arriving just as it started. It was Irish singing, music and dancing at its finest. Highly recommended!
Before leaving Dublin today we wanted to swing by and see St. Patrick's Cathedral which was also very close to where we stayed. Being Sunday, it was not open for tours but just walking the grounds and listening to the bells was amazing.
After departing Dublin our next stop was the southwest of Ireland - specifically Killarney in County Kerry. This would be our longest drive of the trip so the car was stocked with snacks, and computers, DVD's, Ipads were fully charged. Nonetheless we were only on the road for less than 30 minutes when Abbie decided she had to go to the bathroom. No big deal - we made great time the rest of the drive and got to our next hotel by about mid afternoon. After getting settled in our rooms we headed into Killarney town to stroll around and find a place to eat.
